Most Americans Think Crime Is Getting Worse — Survey of the Day

17 percent of the survey’s respondents reported there is less crime, and 8 percent believe the crime rate is unchanged. This marked the seventh year in a row that at least 67 percent of Americans answered crime is getting worse.

Oddly, the violent crime rate has actually declined about thirty percent over this seven year period, according to Bureau of Justice statistics.

Perhaps this discrepancy can be explained by another finding of the Gallup poll: while 54 percent of Americans believe crime is a serious problem nationwide, only 11 percent think it’s a serious problem in their own neighborhood.